Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t you home school a dragon rather than send it to a public school?
What They Say:
The second semester has started. Eriko causes trouble when she gets Rose into Ryuji’s school, and Rose causes even more trouble for Ryuji during her introduction to his class. Redheaded researcher Bianca shows up to examine level 10 breaker Ryuji. The various tests exposing Ryuji’s secrets catch Misaki’s interest. However, something unexpected occurs during the examination. Second semester has started. Rose causes trouble when she goes to school with Ryuji. The beautiful blonde causes a stir among Ryuji’s classmates. Redheaded researcher Bianca arrives and begins exposing Ryuji’s secrets.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With things having settled down at least a little, Eriko is trying to put some semblance of normalcy into not only Ryuji’s life but also Rose’s. And nothing says normal like going to school, so she manages to get her enrolled through a bit of luck associated with the Society itself. It’s not something that will go well though since Rose isn’t exactly a wallflower and a cute blonde girl will stand out big time in a place like this. To make matters worse, during the introductions she basically exposes her love for Ryuji in a profound way which sets everyone abuzz with what’s going on as well as some potential jealousies and the like.
And, of course, there’s trouble in the form of Bianca, who has something of a school nurse feel to her but is a researched that’s there who starts in on trying to figure out what it is exactly that Ryuji is hiding. That means putting him through a series of very public and detailed tests of all nature, from physical to mental, so she can see what his potential is and what anomalies may show up in the middle of it. Rose is all too eager to help out at first as well since she knows, as she says, everything about Ryuji’s body. The tests and explanations that come along with this are pretty standard fare and it’s understandable why Ryuji would go through it so they can find out if the things that have happened with him are related to genetics, but it dominates the episode too much.
When it does shift towards the big moment in the final quarter of the episode, it gives us the big action that the show hasn’t exactly needed. What’s been great about Dragon Crisis is that it seems like it bucks the structure trends many shows go through and just tells the story. Forcing action into it like this is just that, forcing it and you can feel it because it’s kind of stupidly over the top. Which is weird to say when you can accept dragons and the other things we’ve seen in the show but you cringe at large, goofy humanoid style robots designed to challenge Ryuji. It sticks out like a sore thumb whereas the other elements we’ve seen before all fit within the world constructed. And this makes Bianca a bit of a problem character because while she does have her moments here, she goes too far in these areas and in the kind of silly sexuality she brings to it as well.
In Summary:
Dragon Crisis hits something of a placeholder episode here with some of the things that it does. We get Rose going to school but it’s such a minor part of the episode that it’s almost pointless, especially as she’s instructed not to use her wings and powers so that puts her out of commission for most of the big action at the end. Bianca as a character is a by the numbers researcher type here that’s too focused on things that she misses the big picture, even as they try to layer in some small background material to justify it for her. When it does get to the action at the end as Bianca’s robot goes out of control, it’s hard to maintain interest. What does salvage the episode is some really great looking animation and designs again that makes it fun and infectious even when the story feels out of place. There’s a lot to like with the design of the show and the writing and story has certainly shown promise, they just need to follow through on it more than providing episodes like this.
Grade: B-
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
